Conditions Treated

Common conditions treatable by your physical therapist

Frozen Shoulder or Adhesive Capsulitis

Frozen Shoulder or Adhesive Capsulitis is commonly identified by pain and very limited movement in the shoulder. It is most common in women aged 40-60 years of age but it can affect men, though usually less severely. Unfortunately the cause is often unknown, but it can be related to autoimmune or thyroid disease. It causes many limitations in daily activities – many women complain of not being able to take off their bra, difficulty washing their hair, and reaching for objects in cupboards or closets. Physical therapists can help to restore mobility in the shoulder joint by using manual therapy skills to affect both the joint mechanics and the muscles around the joint and by providing exercises tailored to your limitations. Physical therapists are commonly the first point of treatment for a frozen shoulder. The sooner therapy begins the quicker the recovery.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis or Joggers Heel is characterized by a sharp pain in the base of the heel, especially with walking or running. The plantar fascia is a long fibrous band that connects from the heel to the base of the toes and helps support the arch of the foot. Most patients report pain in the heel with their first step in the morning and after getting up from a long period of sitting. There are many treatment options for plantar fasciitis including taping, manual therapy and exercises but there is not a “one size fits all” prescription. A physical therapist will assess your particular condition and look at your mechanics throughout the body to determine the root cause of your symptoms.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear often occurs through high velocity and high impact sports including soccer, football, skiing, and basketball. Most tears result in surgery and require rehabilitation afterwards to return the body to the pre-injury state. After surgery, patients experience reduced muscle size (especially of the quadriceps), weakness in muscles surrounding the knee, and a loss of range of motion. There are also many consequences that are indirectly caused by the surgery including inhibition of muscles, poor coordination, and poor movement patterns. Physical therapists help improve all of these deficits after ACL reconstruction through a comprehensive strengthening, stretching, and neuromuscular reeducation program and incorporate sport specific training to ensure a successful return to your sport.

Yoga as Rehabilitation

Yoga as Rehabilitation Yoga is a sequence of movements connected together with breath. It consists of therapeutic poses that help to strengthen, stretch, and stabilize. Yoga helps promote movement in standing, sitting, and lying and therefore addresses many of the positions we use throughout the day. TherapydiaSF’s yoga approach is a blend of hatha, viniyoga, and iyengar with a focus on learning proper alignment, and movement patterns to help prevent injury and practice safely. At TherapydiaSF, yoga sessions may be scheduled individually, as a duet, or in a group class. Individual or duet classes are useful for those interested in beginning a yoga practice, advanced practitioners who want to refine their practice, or those returning from an injury. Yoga can be used as a part of the rehabilitation process, as a form of maintenance after therapy, or as part of a wellness lifestyle.

Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow)

Lateral Epicondylitis or Tennis Elbow is common in racquet sports and jobs or hobbies that require frequent repetitive use of the hands. It is often caused by overuse of the arm with poor mechanics throughout the body. The symptoms begin with a gradual pain on the outside of the elbow and will progressively get worse over time. If left for a prolonged period of time weakness in grip strength may develop and can affect your daily activities. Physical therapists assess not only the local tissue site but also how each person is performing their activity to reduce stress on the tissue and promote healing.

Headache

Many headache sufferers have tried heat, ice, topical ointments and medication, but few know that physical therapy can help with headaches. In many cases a headache is a result of structural or soft tissue dysfunction that is affecting the neck. Learning correct postures specific to your particular sleep, work, and driving environment can help reduce headache symptoms. A physical therapist will work to teach you these positions and through an assessment will find the underlying cause of your headache and focus treatment to that area. By treating the actual dysfunction and not just the symptom (unlike they typical treatment options) headaches can be reduced over the long term.

Posture Training

We spend the majority of our life sleeping, working, and driving. Most of us think we know what “good posture” is but, in fact, we are overcorrecting and performing postures that we can only hold for a few seconds to minutes. As a result, people return to their unhealthy, biomechanically unsafe position, which wears on our bodies and, over a prolonged period, will eventually cause pain. Physical therapists specialize in understanding how the physical demands of our day impact the body as a whole. We are specialists in understanding anatomy and proper positioning to avoid abnormal stresses. Obtaining one-on-one correction to learn proper achievable posture can have a profound effect on your comfort throughout the day and reduce future side effects.

Lumbar Spine Disc Disorder

Low back pain is one of the most common problems for which people seek medical attention. Many times the actual source of low back pain is the intervertebral disc (a cartilaginous tissue that separates each vertebra). The disc can deteriorate or herniate (bulge out) and cause pain into the low back and/or refer pain down into the buttocks and legs. If the disc pinches a nerve, this can cause additional pain and dysfunction in the lower extremities. Physical therapy helps with reducing the pain and symptoms caused by the disc dysfunction. The primary goal of physical therapy is to address the source of these symptoms by restoring normal joint mechanics and movement at the joint, and assist the disc in returning to its usual position. Patient education, body mechanic retraining and exercise, and core stabilization are critical to recovery. Your physical therapist will tailor a program to meet your specific needs and help limit the likelihood of reoccurrence.

Neck Pain

Neck pain is a common complaint from people who spend long hours sitting at their desk and typing on a computer. Pain can be located in the neck itself and can extend out toward the shoulders and down the mid back between the shoulder blades. In more severe cases pain can spread into the arms towards the fingers. Posture strain that results from long durations of sitting and computer use can affect the muscles, myofascia (connective tissue), intervertebral disc, joints and nerves of the neck, shoulder, and shoulder blade areas. Physical therapy can work to alleviate pain and symptoms from the structures affected. Most importantly physical therapy will educate people on good posture to reduce the cause of the tissue strain and provide exercises to strengthen the postural stability muscles and to restore normal tissue mechanics and painfree function.

Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMD)

It is estimated that 50% of the adult population suffers from one sign of TMD at some time in their life, with jaw pain occurring 3 times more frequently in women. TMD may be caused by many factors including poor posture, long periods of opening the mouth, clenching and grinding the teeth. It can manifest as pain in the head, neck and jaw, headaches, dizziness, ear pain, clicking, or even tooth pain. At TherapydiaSF we address jaw pain with a multifaced approach, looking at posture, discussing lifestyle habits, improving joint mobility and alignment.

Concussions

Recent studies have shown that concussions can have a long term impact on function, causing dizziness, balance problems, and headaches. At TherapydiaSF we will not only treat the symptoms of concussion, but will also monitor and progress your recovery on a daily basis using our research-based return to sport protocol. We work together with your physician and coaching staff to make sure you return to your activity safely and effectively.

Ankle Sprain

Ankle sprains account for 34% of all sports injuries and occur during a rapid twisting motion when the foot is planted, or when landing from a jump improperly. Most common is the inversion ankle sprain, where the foot goes inward and the ankle rolls outward. Typical symptoms include immediate pain and swelling, possible bruising, and pain with walking. Physical therapy can help manage swelling, restore range of motion, increase strength and improve balance. Up to 40% of people who have sprained their ankle report feeling instability and many develop chronic ankle instability, leading to repeated ankle sprains. Physical therapy is important to lower the rate of recurrence and ensure a safe return to activity.

Achilles Tendon Dysfunction

Achilles tendonitis is often associated with running, but can occur in any activity when there is increased stress and overuse to the heel cord. True tendonitis occurs when there is an inflammatory process in the tendon, while tendonosis is a chronic condition where the tendon has failed to heal. In many instances, the tendon injury is a result of poor biomechanics in the body, including joints in the foot and ankle, but may also be related to dysfunction in the low back and hip. As physical therapists, we combine a thorough medical history with a physical exam to understand contributing factors to the injury. We will work with you to manage pain, restore tendon function through eccentric exercise, and address faulty biomechanics. We will also review your training program and advise you on proper shoe wear, if appropriate.